A Quick Workout For Honeymoon Worthy Abs

Written with love, by Jennifer Dene

Welcome back for our final week of fitness variations to take your workout from blah to babe!

Today we are elevating the humble abdominal crunch into a thing of fitness magnificence. Are you ready?

I’ve written before that I don’t always isolate my abdominal muscles during workouts, as too much targeted ab work can lead to injury. Over the last two week’s you have been strengthening your core with squats and planks, which are both terrific to do on a regular basis. The crunch variations below will be the perfect addition to your workout once or twice a week.

How To Do The Basic Crunch

Step One: Start by laying on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Take your hands behind your head and relax your head into your palms.

Step Two: Keeping your low back still against the ground flex through your upper torso to lift your head and chest away from the floor and direct your gaze to your navel.

Step Three: Lower back down to the starting position. On a crunch you exhale when you lift the chest and inhale to return.

The Variations

Rope Climber

This move targets your six-pack muscles as you slowly roll the spine up and down from the floor. Try to keep your feet still and not use any momentum!

Reverse Crunch

The six-pack is still engaged as you hold a static upper ab curl, but then you recruit your deep belly muscles to lift the hips and bring the knees to the nose. Often women forget to train the lower half of their abs so you will be thanking me for this one come the honeymoon!

Side Glides

This move flexes the spine from side to side to tone those oblique muscles in a different way than the normal bicycle twist. Keep your knees as still as possible as you reach towards your heels.

I recommend starting with 5 repetitions for each of these new moves and adding on once you feel confident. Press play for the quick video tutorial to see exactly how to do these moves, and then let me know which one is your favorite and why by leaving a comment below!

I can’t wait to workout with you!
      
       Jennifer Dene

Power Your Core // Stability Ball Exercises

Written with love, by Nikki Lian

I’m sure you’ve all seen a stability ball or “exercise” ball at some point, whether it be in a gym, at someone’s house, in a store or in someone’s office.  Stability balls have many uses, mostly for exercise.  If at a desk all day on the computer, some people choose to sit on stability balls rather than their own chairs to help with posture, back pain, etc.

Stability balls can help anyone improve his or her fitness and work the core muscles (abs, back, hip flexors) in one’s body.  Here is a compilation of some of (what I think) are the most effective stability ball exercises to target your abdominals:

Ball Crunch         

Lie on your exercise ball with your lower back pressed against the ball.  Cross your arms over your chest, or your put your hands behind your ears (just make sure you’re not pulling your neck) - whichever is more comfortable.  Slowly perform a crunch with your hips stationary.  The ball is supposed to help isolate your abdominal muscles so you’re not using any other part of your body.  If you still feel discomfort in your lower back, I noticed that it helps to put my feet up against the wall.  But be careful, this can be a little more difficult to balance, so make sure you’re ready for that modification.  Try timing yourself, and work your way up to a minute.

Cross-Over Crunches

Lying on a mat, put the exercise ball under your left heel (left leg straight out) and put your right foot flat on the floor bending your right knee.  With your right arm behind your head, pull the ball in with your left heel, and touch your right elbow to your left knee.  Then return your leg and elbow to the starting position.  This is isolating your left internal and external oblique muscles.  Do 15 repetitions, and switch to the other leg.

Ball Exchanges

Lying flat on your back with your legs straight out, place the exercise ball between your feet.  Squeezing and holding onto the ball with your feet, bring both legs up slightly bending your knees, and grab the ball with your hands.  While holding the ball with your hands, extend your arms above your head.  Your legs should be moving back down coming close to the floor but not touching it.  Doing the same movement, grab the ball from your hands with your two feet.  This is an advanced abdominal exercise so start with a few repetitions (sometimes my clients start with one!) and work your way up to ten per set.

Stability balls can be found in a lot of different retail stores such as Target and Walmart, as well as sporting goods stores in general.  I’ve seen them range from 8 bucks to around 25 dollars.  They take up space but can fit in a closet, and are very useful for your every day exercise routine.  Next week I’ll go over some stability ball leg workouts—working out your core as well as your glutes, hamstrings and thighs!